The Birth and Growth Trajectory of the Progressive Brand

Introduction

What drives brands toward progress is their creative and client cordial way to deal with tracking down items as arrangements. Many brands have a legacy and they consistently in the habit of providing customers with solutions that will improve their personal satisfaction. These brands are not just centered around benefit or income; their emphasis is also on the community at large.

The Progressive brand, as the name suggests, is a brand that has changed the way the insurance sector works. Progressive has always lived up to its motto, which is to approach auto insurance like no other company has.

In this article, we will dive deep into the Birth and Growth Trajectory of the Progressive Brand to understand what the brand did and is still doing to gain a competitive advantage and a loyal customer base.

The Birth of the Progressive Brand

The Progressive brand has been in the insurance market since March 10th, 1973. Progressive Mutual Fund Insurance Company was founded by Joseph Lewis and Jacke Green. The motto of the brand is to change the entire outlook on auto insurance.

Image − Progressive Auto Insurance claims vehicle. The Progressive Corporation is one of the largest providers of car insurance in the United States.

Progressive provides auto, motorcycle, motor scooter, boat, and RV insurance to customers. Progressive was the brand that came up with drive-through claim services (where the insurer can claim the insurance amount by drive-through services to save time and make the process simple for the customers), 24-hour claim services (which means that the brand is open 24*7 to serve its customers), and Progressive also reduced the insurance rates for low-risk drivers, also known as Safe Driver Plans.

Progressive as a brand is not afraid of competition; it is challenging the competition with its various innovative plans and services that attract customers and retain them as if they were stuck with glue.

The Growth Trajectory of the Progressive Brand

The Progressive brand has always lived up to its name. Progressive is always coming up with new marketing strategies, product improvisation techniques, and operational excellence to attract more customers and retain the existing ones.

Some of them are:

800 Auto Pro or 800 Progressive Plan

This was a service started by Progressive to help their customers find the optimal insurance plan for them. So whenever a customer wanted to compare the price and benefit they would be getting from the insurance plans from different companies, they could just call the 800 number.

Here, the Progressive brand would provide the insurance quote, along with Progressive and three other competitive companies. This was a subtle method in which Progressive showed its customers that it was the best insurance provider, but still, customers reached that conclusion by themselves, so it wasn't singing your own song for the company. Through this, Progressive gained new customers that would stay loyal to the brand.

Immediate Response Vehicles (IRV) by Progressive

Progressive also came up with the IRV system. As per the system, the insurer can send trained claim professionals wherever the customers need them, including the scene of the accident. This was another initiative by Progressive to make the claim process easier and better than that of other competitive companies. Many companies have rigorous and slow processes when it is time for the insurer to claim the money, but Progressive's fast response is winning the hearts of the customers. Today, Progressive has thousands of IRVs all across the country.

Self-Service Centre by Progressive

Jonathan Beamer, the marketing strategies and business leader at Progressive, noticed that since now the customers are becoming more educated and cost-conscious, they are less likely to use agents to buy policies, understand the terms and conditions, or need their help at the time of claiming the insurance money. Progressive, as a response, came up with a Progressive service center in which the customers can take their damaged vehicle and get it repaired, or the Immediate Response Vehicle Services are there to help the customers at the time of accidents, flat tires, or locksmith situations, and along with this, efforts were taken by the company to help the customers understand the insurance's terms and conditions with ease.

The calling system by Progressive also helped the customers compare the prices of different insurance policies and similar policies by different companies. Progressive support is a customer-centric and self-service approach for its customers. This not only helped in attracting the new educated sector. Along with this, the agents are also kept intact for customers who would not want to indulge into this much.

Marketing and Advertising Campaigns by Progressive

The brand understood that having animated or fictional characters would not help the company. The company wanted to make the process of buying and selling insurance from Progressive a tangible experience that could happen in the real world.

Flo is a character introduced by the brand who is the fictional salesperson of Progressive and is always going out of her way to help the customers in any manner possible. This helped the customer associate a positive and happy image of the brand with it. Flo, today, has become a household name and is one of the most recognized advertising icons. Progressive is determined to keep Flo's spark active and relevant, and that is why necessary changes are made in the advertisement and the character whenever required, along with different marketing channels like Television, social media, video games, Sims social, animated YouTube videos, and others.

Conclusion

Progressive as a brand has had immense and impressive growth. All the credit for the growth of Progressive goes to the innovative marketing approach, affordable insurance plans, and product and service innovations that Progressive keeps coming up with. Progressive has understood that the only way to survive in this cutthroat business environment is by being progressive in its thinking and by always being on its toes. There are new companies coming up every now and then, and these companies are providing similar and identical solutions to the company. Customers are spirited with choices, and the only thing that is going to retain them is customer relations. Progressive is doing wonders as a brand.